History Of Covered Bridges

            Bridges have come a long way since their early history. Today bridges can be hundreds of feet high and can allow us to move across rivers unimaginable in the early days. It all started by the necessity to move supplies, goods, and people across rivers and streams. Ferries and barges were adequate for the movement and transportation of these things at the time. However, as the population grew and trade increased, the development of bridges was a must.
             Early bridges were simply logs stretched across supporting timbers. The span of the bridge was limited to the length of the supporting timber. As development continued, builders soon learned to create longer spans by using trusses, arches, and joined stringers. Like many other 18th century structures, these bridges were made almost entirely of wood. This created a problem. The joints of these bridges would soon deteriorate when exposed to the harsh elements of nature. Something had to be done so that the bridges would last longer because they were a great necessity. Building materials would have to be changed or the bridges would need to be protected one way or another. As a result, protection was added to the bridges. Wood trusses and joints were now protected as a result of the new type of bridge called the covered bridge.
             The first partially covered bridge was built, tested, and used over the Mohawk River in New York in 1808. It was then upgraded and was completely covered in 1825 and 1830. The word about covered bridges soon spread out throughout the country and thousands were then built all over in the 19th century.
             There were many bridge builders at the time, but among them was a builder from Georgia named Horace King that lived from 1807 to 1887. He was a slave from South Carolina who learned the craft of bridge building from his owner, John Godwin. King and Godwin built bridges in South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama from 1830 until 1846 when there were financial problems.